Perfume: the Story of a murderer

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, orphaned as a newborn in the streets of Paris, is alone in the world.  A peculiar child who rarely speaks, Grenouille is alienated from others but blessed with a remarkable gift.  His sense of smell is so refined, so attuned to every blade of grass and blossoming flower, that it’s tragic when he’s sold into servitude to a tannery at the age of 13 and surrounded by the foul odors that accompany his labor.

But there comes a day when Grenouille runs an errand in town and discovers the object that will transform his life: perfume.  Eager to learn the art of creating sophisticated fragrance, he apprentices himself to a once-renowned perfumer, and proves to be a savant whose almost mystical knowledge of scent surpasses anything that can be taught to him by masters of the craft.

Ironically, he was born with no scent of his own, a distinction which colors his undistinguished life.  But Grenouille is fearless when it comes to the pursuit of a perfect perfume.  When he discovers the most intoxicating scent he has ever experienced – the natural fragrance of a beautiful young girl – he learns that the only method to preserve her innocence and fresh beauty will require murder.

Plaguing the countryside with a series of gruesome killings, Grenouille must stay one step ahead of the authorities until he captures the final ingredient for his greatest perfume – the essence of a beautful redheaded girl whose wealthy father earnestly protects her.  Only then, he believes, will he earn the attention and adulation that his extraordinary talent deserves.

Based on the best-selling novel by Patrick Süskind, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” is a story of a deadly obsession set in 18th-century France.

Cast

Crew

Production Notes